William f



(No Model.) y

W. F. SHAW.

) MUSIC HOLDER..

No. 458,074. i Patented Aug. 18.1891.

W/TNESSES: .7.. /NVENTOH v l). By e Cl'/ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAM F. SHAV, OF YARMOUTH, CANADA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND HIRAM E. CHUTE, OF SAME PLACE.

muslo-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 458,074, dated August 18, 1891.

Application filed November 28,1890. Serial No. 372,897. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. SHAW, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Yarmouth, in the Province of Nova Scotia and Dominion of Canada, have invented a new and Improved Music-Holder, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My inventionrelates to a device for holding sheets or pages or leaves of a piece of sheetmusic or a music or other book upon a piano,

organ, or other musical instrument or a table, and useful also for supporting pictures or papers on an easel or elsewhere; and the invention has for its object to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient device of this character, which may be almost instantly adjusted either to allow or to prevent turning of the leaves or sheets at the will of the operator.

The invention will first be described, and then will be particularly defined in the claims hereinafter set forth.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the gures.

Figure 1 is a perspective View of parts of a musical instrument with my improved music-holder applied and in use. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the holder device, partlybroken away and in horizontal section; and Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the music-holder, taken on the line @c x in Fig. 2.

The music or book holder is made with a body portion or shelf or bed-plate A, which is preferably made of wood, and may be fixed by screws or otherwise to the inclined music board or rack B of a piano or organ or to any suitable supporting stand or base. I prefer, however, to connect the shelf A by hinges a to the music board or rack, as shown in Fig. l of the drawings. The shelf is provided with an interior recess a', within which is fulcrumed at c, and preferably to a block c', a lever O, which projects forward through a slot a2 in the shelf, and is preferably provided with a pendent pin c2, forming with the projecting part of the lever a handle in convenient reach of the player of the instrument.

To the lever C at opposite sides of its fuling finger'.

Upon or at the front edge of the shelf A crum or pivot are connected the inner ends of two rods D D, the outer ends of which are coupled to the inner cranked or bent ends e e of two rods E E, which are fitted to turn axially in transverse bearings or holes a3, provided for them in the holder-shelf A. The outer ends of these rods E E are also bent to form front crank-arms e e outside the shelf, and upon the crank-arm e of each rod E is placed the coil f of a spring-wire or other elastic arm or finger F, which projects aboutat right angles to its crank-support e', and is preferably about three inches long (more or less) and is adapted to press upon a leaf of book or sheet music supported by the shelf A, as hereinafter more fullyexplained. The extremity of the crank-arm e isbbent to retain the spring-coilf on the arm, and the eX- tremity f of the spring-coil acts on the front of the shelf or a metal plate G, fixed thereto,

as a resistance-bearing to or for the leaf-holdare fixed a couple of lugs, lips, or flanges H H, ywhich receive and form stops to the two fingers F F when they are simultaneously folded down by operating the lever C. These stop lugs or lips, which are preferably provided with felt facings or noise-deafeners, onto which the lingers strike, may be held to the shelf A in any approved manner; but I prefer to form the lugs by stamping them upA from the metal of the plate G, which plate has a slot g, registering with the shelf-slot a?, for passage of the lever C. The lever also is made noiseless in action by means of felt or other pads or buffers g', which are placed at the ends of the slots co2 g, and may be extended all around the slots. The metal front or face plate G also provides substantial bearings for the cranked rods E, which carry the music-leaf-holding fingers F, and the plate also takes the pressure of the reacting ends f of the spring-finger coils.

The operation of my invention is very simple and effective. When the lever O is thrown over to the right hand, as shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2.o,of the drawings, the rods D D will, by pulling on the cranked rods E E, swing the fingers F F upward simultaneously IOO in front of the pages or sheets I I of open music, which may rest, when bound in book form or unbound, upon the holder-shelf A, and will prevent accidental turning of the leaves by air-drafts or otherwise. V'Vhen the leaves are to be turned either way, it is only necessary to move the lever C to the left hand, as indicated in dotted lines in Figs. l and 2 of the drawings, which movement will, through the rods D and E, instantly swing the spring'- ngers F F downward toward each other and upon the stop lugs or lips II H when the fingers lie entirely below the leaves of music, which then may be turned as desired, whereupon the lever C will again be swung or shifted to the right hand, which will instantly carry both fingers F F into upright or uppermost position in front of the music or book leaves or sheets to hold them from turning, as will readily be understood. It will be noticed that during the unfolding of the lingers F F they swing upward and outward from each other or toward the outer edges of the leaves of sheet or book music to push or press them open in a smooth and proper manner, and that during this unfolding upward movement of the ngers their extremities f do not strike the shelf A until said ngers nearly reach the vertical position. Hence there is practically no pressure of the fingers upon the sheets or leaves I I until after these parts f of the fingers ride upon the front edge of the shelf, whereupon the fingers will by their parts j be caused to exert a gradually-im creasing pressure on the leaves to hold them open, and this pressure is relaxed as soon as the fingers are again folded down toward the shelf. Furthermore, the holder device may be used with equal facility on a swinging or stationary music desk or support, as the mutually outward and inward swinging motions of the fingers are self-balancing.

The entire device is very compact and may be made almost wholly of sheet metal, if desired, and there is little liability of the parts getting out of order.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. A music or book holdin g device comprising the support or shelf having a recess ct' in its rear side and a slot in its front face communicating therewith, the lever C, pivoted between its ends in said recess and projecting at its outer end through said slot, two transverse rods E E, having cranks at both ends,

rods D D, connecting the lever C at opposite sides of its pivot with the inner cranks of the rods, and spring-fingers mounted on the outer cranks of said rods,substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with the shelf or support, the transverse rods, and their operating mechanism, of two fingers pivoted on the outer ends of the rods and having projecting portions to ride upon the shelf or support when the fingers are swung into operative position and press them inward against the sheets or leaves, substantially as set forth.

3. In a music or book holder, the combination, with a shelf or support, cranked oscillatory rods thereon, and means for actuating said rods, of elastic or spring fingers held to the crank-arms of said rods and having eX- tremities riding upon the shelf or support, substantially as described, whereby the iingers as they approach upright position will exert gradually-increasing pressure on the music sheets or leaves, as herein set forth.

il. In a music or book holder, the combina tion, with a shelf or support A, having an interior recess a", a front slot c2, and transverse holes or bearings a3, of a lever iC, fulcrumed for horizontal movement within the recess a and slot a2, rods E E, having end cranks e e and journaled in the bearings a3, rods D D, connecting the rod-cranks e e with the `lever C at opposite sides of its fulcrum, spring-fingers F F, having coils f, turning on the rodcranks e and provided with projections f to ride upon the shelf or support, and stops limiting the downswing of the fingers, substan. tially as described.

5. In a music or book holder, the com-bination, with a shelf or support A, having an interior recess a', a front slot a2, and fa front metal guard-plate G, slotted lat f, of a lever C, journaled for horizontal movement within the recess a and in the slots a g, rods E E, having end cranks e e and journaledtransversely in the shelf and plate A G, rods DD, connecting the rod-cranks e e with 'the lever C at opposite sides of its fulcrum, spring-fingers F, having coils f, fitted 'to tur-n on the rod-cranks e and provided with projections f to ride upon the face-plate, and stops Il H on the plate G for the fingers, substantially as described.

WILLIAM F. SHAV.

lVitnesses:

HIRAM E. CHUTE, LEMUEL C. HALEY. 

